A Factory Toward Fulfilment

“We are a society engrossed in consumption. Our persistent pursuit of possession is a product of lies that we have been taught; where objects become the means to reach an instinctive, yet untenable goal of true happiness.

As the producer of artefacts, the factory plays a significant role in this process. But what if the factory set out to address the root cause of consumerism? What if a factory could transform the person from a mechanism of incessant consumption into a being of utter contentedness?

We propose a world in which consumerism becomes redundant. Where the factory doesn’t contribute to the problem, but becomes the solution. A Factory Toward Fulfilment takes stock from those brave enough to break away from the conventions of the status quo [Fig. 1].

For those who choose this route, our architecture provides an ascending assembly of desires – each floor an overindulgent excess [Fig. 2].

In this way, a moving conveyor-belt of society experience their materialist lifestyles to the extreme – drowning in fur coats, sick from eating too much cake, burning away a lifetime of video gaming in one fell swoop.

The output creates a world free from materialism. Is this not a simpler, and more beautiful place [Fig. 3]?”

Interview

Who influences you graphically?

A Factory Toward Fulfilment is an ironic take on the state of consumerism in our society. The graphics therefore became essential to telling this story in a playful and compelling way, rather than being primarily spatially descriptive. The work of Superstudio and Rem Koolhaas at the beginning of his career proved especially valuable. They were particularly able to talk about ambitious narratives, whilst allowing the architectural proposition to remain suggestive.

How does the frame format affect the image within?

The frame was more of a pragmatic device to display captions without interfering with the images. However, there is undoubtedly something pleasurable about an abundance of empty space surrounding a drawing!

How does the graphic language of the project communicate against consumerism? (texture, etc.).

The project definitely represented a departure for us in terms of graphic style. We decided upon a combination of photo-realism for context, and line-work for propositional elements. Not only does this make the Factory stand out, but it also allows us to be more abstract in describing the architecture as it is not the essential element in our project. Additionally, zoomed in frames of the Factory’s processes were drawn in more detailed line-work to differentiate them further and to achieve a certain level of clarity.

At the end of the day, there is only so much a graphic style can do to support a narrative. We view our project description as the most important drawing.

What dictated the choice of framed views you chose to reveal your project through?

Early on we decided that structuring our narrative just like a manufacturing process would be a very effective way of describing the journey of a person toward fulfilment. Each panel correlates with a key stage in the manufacturing process: from stock, through the factory and delivery to finally creating an artefact which is ultimately fulfilled. By choosing these snapshots of the journey as our key moments, we felt that the reader would really get a clear picture of what we are proposing.

How can this approach be applied to other forms of consumerism in the future?

We believe that the fundamental issues of today can only be solved by understanding processes at the systematic scale. This was our approach in this case, and it is a method that we will use to understand other critical phenomena as we move forward in our careers.

About

Felix Yates (briefsimplicity.com), Leo Taylor (leopoldesign.com) and Naomi Rubbra (naomirubbra.com) are students at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. They are currently in a placement year working in New York.